Juan Pablo Varillas makes history at Roland Garros: how far is it allowed to dream? | OPINION

When in the first months of 2023, on the South American tour (in Chile, Argentina and Brazil), John Paul Varillas began to stand out constantly and play high-level matches against top rivals (Thiem, Musetti, Norrie, etc.), one could sense that this year was the good one. That 2023 was going to be the takeoff for Juan Pablo. And in this one Roland Garrosthe historic tournament that takes place in France and perhaps the most important on the tennis circuit, is proving it.

Only this year rods played the Australian Open in January, got his best ranking (#76 ATP in March), and has played some of the biggest Masters 1000 games. Although he couldn’t win in any of those (Miami, Rome, Monte Carlo and Madrid), something presaged that he was on the right track.

And so it has been.

Carry since January in the Top 100, the one that cost so much to reach and break that barrier of always being close. He established himself, competed against the best and now he is there: living the dream at Roland Garros, a tournament in which he started in the main draw and after two marathon matches (first against the Chinese promise Shang and then against the experienced Spanish Bautista Agut). in which he was down 0-2 in sets, ‘Juanpi’ recovered and now he will face a new challenge: a 1.96m Polish tower called Hubert Hurkacz (#14 ATP). If Varillas just knocked out the 19th seed of the tournament, how will he fare against the 13th seed at the French Open?

Are there reasons to believe in a Peruvian victory? There are, Varillas is playing the best tennis of his life, although of course, he could try to start the games better (the rival also plays, be careful) and thus not wear himself out so much physically and mentally. In his favor is that Hurkacz also comes from a marathon duel of almost 5 hours, so they are even, although the Peruvian has a doubles match this Thursday. The tennis player will play in the following duel the possibility of climbing almost 20 places in the ATP ranking. If today in the Live Ranking he is #77, if he wins against Hurkacz he will be among the top 60 in the world. It would be crazy.

In the tournament draw, the one that today has the Peruvian among the best 32 at Roland Garros, it goes step by step. where they already are Alcaraz, Rublev, Tsitsipas and other cracks, there is a Peruvian, after 17 years (Horna in Australian Open 2006 was the last). Although it is inevitable to look, dream and believe it, that if Varillas wins against the Pole, a certain Novak Djokovic could be his rival in a hypothetical round of 16 match. They imagine? Well everyone I think. But step by step. ‘Juanpi’, can we dream with you?

THE MATCH

I wonder what must go through his head when Rods sees that everything he throws, Bautista Agut returns it to him. Not just once, twice, every time he tries something, the Spaniard returns a missile. And Juanpi is wrong, he gets frustrated, he lets himself go. The Peruvian tennis player falls in the first two sets (6-1 and 6-3) and getting back into the game is an epic rarely seen.

Bautista Agut had never lost when he was 2-0 in favor. In fact, the Spaniard was unbeaten in more than 50 matches when he prevailed in the first two sets. So Rods had to do something that no one had done before.

But the balls started to come in, the Spaniard started to get tired and Juanpi saw some light. The one that made him go forward, to be more successful in the key points of each game. The third set was 6-3 for the Peruvian and from there, medical attention.

Rods due to discomfort in his right shoulder and Bautista Agut due to blisters on his left foot. After the break, a hurricane named Juan Pablo Varillas passed through field 13 of the huge sports complex located in the heart of Paris.

The Peruvian was solid, forceful, devastating and even lethal at every point. Each drive, setback or drop shot this time plunged and hurt Bautista Agut irreparably. Varillas took the fourth set 6-1 and in the fifth and final, even with some shocks in eternal games of almost 10 minutes, the Peruvian managed to come out graceful and hit again with a 6-1 final.

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